Pressfield describes how this translation of the opening Invocation of the Muse has become his daily mantra against Resistance and some years ago I adopted it as my own, too. More on Resistance and the Muse, here (from Pressfield) and here (Howard Jones on the Invocation).

But, I digress. I was also curious to actually read one of the oldest works of Western literature.

I don’t have dazzling, scholarly insights to offer but these things struck me:

It’s not linear. We have a tendency to imagine that non-linear story telling is a post-modern phenomenon typified by Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. The Odyssey opens towards the end of Odysseus’s tale and we hear much of the story in his own words as he recounts it to others.

It feels strangely real. Not in the Sirens and Cyclops and gods and heroes, but in the telling, daily detail: how the seafarers beached their (flat-bottomed) ships, the mixing of the wine and the slaughtering (and sacrificing) of meat.

Those famous scenes are so short. The Sirens come and go in barely two pages.

This was written 800 years before Christianity. But, as with the Roman Marcus Aurelius (121 – 180 AD), the people have a contemporary feel; plus ca change.

By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.